The Serpent and the Rainbow (film)

The Serpent and the Rainbow
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Wes Craven
Produced by	Doug Claybourne David Ladd Robert Engelman
Written by	Wade Davis (book) Richard Maxwell Adam Rodman
Narrated by	Bill Pullman
Starring	Bill Pullman Cathy Tyson Zakes Mokae Paul Winfield Brent Jennings Conrad Roberts
Music by	Brad Fiedel
Cinematography	John Lindley
Editing by	Glenn Farr
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	February 5, 1988 May 11, 1988 June 10, 1988
Running time	98 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$7,000,000 (estimated)
Box office	$19,595,031 (USA) (sub-total)

The Serpent and the Rainbow is a 1988 American voodoo–horror film, directed by Wes Craven and starring Bill Pullman. The film is very loosely based on the non-fiction book of the same name by ethnobotanist Wade Davis, wherein Davis recounted his experiences in Haiti investigating the story of Clairvius Narcisse, who was allegedly poisoned and buried alive; and who, when released from the grave, purportedly received an herbal brew whose effects produced what was called a zombie.

Plot

Ethnobotanist/anthropologist Dennis Alan, in visiting the Amazon, receives a potion connecting him to his protective totem (a jaguar) through a series of visions, and is later guided by a jaguar from the Rainforest itself. Returned to Boston, he is sent to Haiti by a pharmaceutical corporation looking to investigate a drug used in Haitian Vodou, in the hope of using it as anesthesia.

Alan's exploration in Haiti to find the drug, assisted by the doctor Marielle, draws the attention of the authorities, so that the commander of the Tonton Macoute, Captain Dargent Peytraud, warns Alan to leave Haiti. Alan refuses to leave, and continues to investigate. Eventually, he encounters a local witch doctor, Mozart, who can produce the drug; but Mozart sells him a substitute instead.

Alan is arrested a second time by the Tonton Macoute and tortured; but again refuses to leave. Later he meets again with Mozart to obtain the true poison. A few hours before gaining this, Alan experiences a nightmare planted in his mind by Peytraud, and wakes beside a dead woman. The Tonton Macoutes then frame Alan for murder.

Alan is brought to Peytraud, who places him on an airplane at gunpoint; whereupon Mozart gives him the drug in exchange for international fame. Alan thence returns to Boston to study the components and effects of the drug.

At a celebration dinner, the wife of Alan's employer is possessed by Peytraud, who warns him of his own imminent death. Thereafter Alan returns to Haiti, where (at Peytraud's behest) he is buried alive. Having emerged he returns to the Tonton Macoute headquarters looking for Marielle. There, Alan and his jaguar spirit defeat Peytraud, prompting Marielle to say "The nightmare is over".

Background

In the case of Clairvius Narcisse of Haiti, the poison that caused the appearance of death was reported to be tetrodotoxin. After he was unburied, he was given a brew derived from Datura stramonium, which he claimed had mind control properties.

The film depicts the powdered drug blown into the victim's face. This is most consistent with involuntary dosing of scopolamine, an alkaloid found in datura and known to facilitate behavior control, but not the appearance of death.

The character of Captain Dargent Peytraud is loosely based on Luckner Cambronne, who was second-in-command to François Duvalier and the commander of the Tonton Macoutes during the reign of Duvalier.

Release

The film was released theatrically in the United States by Universal Pictures in February 1988. It grossed $19,595,031 at the box office.

The film was released on DVD by Image Entertainment in 1998. This version is out of print. It was subsequently re-released by Universal Studios in 2003.

External links

• The Serpent and the Rainbow at the Internet Movie Database
• The Serpent and the Rainbow at AllRovi
• Zombie Powder